"Who Is" Assignment

Go to globalwarming.org.  Who are they?  Who are the authors?  Who is behind this web site?
Then provide your answer on the form provided in the classroom.

Initial Research Strategies

What steps do you need to take when researching a topic?  Let's begin by looking at internet research strategies.
Based on your notes on today's discussion, answer the following questions in your cornell notes template: 
What is a search engine?  What does it do?
Give one example of a search engine.
List three tips or tricks can you use to determine if a web site is a good source or not.
1)
2)
3)
How do you formulate a research question?
Give one example of a question that could be researched.
Give one example of a question that could not be researched.

NYC Writing Assignment - Final Assignment for Cycle 2

1.) Think of a specific neighborhood in New York City. This neighborhood can be where you live, or some other part of New York City that you know really well. Imagine it in your mind.  What does it look like?  What are the people doing?  What do they look like?  What smells and sounds do you experience?  How do you feel, when you’re in the neighborhood?  How do you feel about the neighborhood: do you love it, or do you hate it? Why?

Describe this part of New York in as much detail as possible.  Use imagery to describe what the place looks like, giving visual details about it.  Describe what you love or hate about the place, and describe the people: what they look like, the kinds of clothes they wear, and what they are doing.  Describe the smells and sounds.  This description should be at least two long paragraphs.  

2.) Pick 8 to 14 sentences or phrases from your description (part 1 of this exercise).  This will be your New York City poem.  Allow yourself to change the lines to make them work together as a poem.  You should do this part of the assignment in pencil, so that you can change and edit the poem until you get it just the way you want it to sound and look.  Your poem must be at least 8, and no more than 14, lines long.  Then put a title above the poem.

What You Must Have in Your Folder to Pass this Class, Cycle 2, 2010

1) Cornell Notes Sheet for Neil Gaiman Story
2) Neil Gaiman Story response essay, per guidelines in this blog
3) Chuck D article response sheet and synopsis
4) NYC writing assignment - essay paragraphs and poem

Understanding the Chuck D Article

How have you figured out what the article means? How do you figure it out?  What inferences can you draw from what he says in the article?  What is the meaning of this article, and what are the implications of what he is saying? 

Here are some ways to break down the understanding of this article:

1.) What are the key words or phrases for you that give the main idea?  Underline them. 

2.) What words do you not know?  Circle them.  look them up or figure out their meaning from context clues, and breaking the word into parts, and define them.  Once you know the new words, go back to the sentence.  Translate that sentence into your own words.  Do this with every sentence you didn’t understand.  I have created a sheet, available in the classroom, that makes this easy to do.

3.)  Dikiana in Pd. 5 suggested that a person could look at and explain each paragraph seperately.  She used the margin of her paper to do that.  You could use a separate piece of paper or Cornell Notes paper.  

 4.) Everyone must have their synopsis written in paragraph form on a separate sheet of lined 8.5x11 paper.  Attach your synopsis of the article to your notes and turn it in to me.  

Assessing Your Essay on the Neil Gaiman Story

We use the ELA Rubric to determine the level of your writing.  Once I have corrected and gone over your essay with you, do a self-assessment.  What level do you think you meet, according to the rubric?  How correct is your use of language, and how accurate are the mechanics of your writing (grammar, punctuation and spelling)?  How well organized is your essay?  Is the meaning of your essay clear, and do you stick to the topic?  Finally, how well-developed is your essay?  Have you gone into detail?  Are you truly analyzing the work of literature as opposed to writing a summary?  Rate yourself in each category using the scale of 1 through 6.  Then give yourself an overall numeric score, based on the rubric.

Building College-Level Vocabulary

How do we continue to build vocabulary so that when we get to college we are not overwhelmed with the level of work?  One key strategy is to read on your own.  Read material that takes you one step beyond the level that you're reading on now.  We are reading an article by Chuck D called "What's the Link between Hip Hop and Politics?"  It appeared in The Source, a hip hop lifestyle magazine.  Read the article.  Circle and define words or terms you do not know.  Then write a synopsis of the article, describing its meaning in your own words.

Finishing your Essay

Essay Checklist:

• Does your introduction include a thesis statement about the meaning, message or moral of the story?
• Do your body paragraphs show how aspects of the story support the thesis statement?
• Do you paraphrase and analyze specific aspects of the story (characters, plot developments, literary or artistic techniques used to convey meaning) without retelling/giving a summary of the story?
• Does your essay go into sufficient detail (the essay should be at least two pages, single spaced, normal sized handwriting (not too big, or too small to read)?
• Do you have a conclusion that reconfirms the thesis statement with evidence from the story?
• Have you proof read your essay?
• Have you made corrections?
• Have you re-written/typed, including your corrections?

Once these things are done, then you are ready to hand your essay in to me.

Using Your Cornell Notes to Structure Your Essay

Use the Analysis part of your Cornell Notes sheet to shape your introduction. You should already have written down what you think the story's message, meaning or moral is. Use this as the basis for your introduction.

Your body paragraphs can be culled from the Cornell Notes sheet as well. What aspects that you focused on support the thesis statement in your introductory paragraph?

Your paper should be at least 2 pages long.

Writing Your Paper: The Introduction

Come up with a Thesis Statement. Here are some examples of thesis statements for two fairy tales. Each statement could be used as an introduction to a paper on that fairy tale. I am putting these examples online to show you how you can form a thesis statement for your Neil Gaiman story. These are only examples. You will be coming up with your own thesis statement for the Neil Gaiman story that you chose.

Some Examples of Thesis Statements
(For Fairy Tales)

Sleeping Beauty conveys the message that innocent people are often taken advantage of, but if they are good they will win out in the end.

Sleeping Beauty is a story about how good always triumphs over evil.

Sleeping Beauty provides the lesson that people should be careful about who they treat badly: it could end up that they get treated in the end.

The lesson of Sleeping Beauty is “Don’t forget the little guy.” Even if something seems insignificant, it may not be. Pay attention, so you don’t get hurt.

Sleeping Beauty is a story about how children should listen to their parents, and when they don’t something bad always happens.

Little Red Riding Hood is a story about how you should never take things at face value.

The message of Little Red Riding Hood is that little girls are too trusting, and they should be wary of people who seem to be a friend, but might really be an enemy.

The message of Little Red Riding Hood is if you are in trouble, and you’re a good person, someone will come and save you.